Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 560

Chapter 560

560 Episode 2. Rewrite (5)

The crowd, having just witnessed the prime minister’s death in real time, descended into a mindless panic, surging toward the transparent wall they had pushed against before.

«We need to get out, now! Someone break this thing!»
«Push it again! Maybe it will move this time!»

[Until the scenario in this area is completed, all forms of entry and exit are restricted.]

Terrified people clawed at the transparent barrier, their frantic movements reminding me of insects trapped in a jar.

I drew a slow, deep breath and raised my voice to be heard over the chaos.
«Everyone, get a hold of yourselves. We still have a lot of time left.»

[The constellation ‘Monarch of the Small Fries’ is watching you with a peculiar expression.]
[A few constellations are taken aback by your composure.]

«It was the politicians who died, not any of us.»
The people stared up at me with vacant, lost expressions.

[Some incarnations are beginning to place their reliance on you.]
[Your influence within the scenario area has surpassed a specific threshold.]

With their reason shattered by fear, an opening had presented itself.
«We can still choose our method of survival.»

*How* to survive.
One by one, the people huddled on the ground began to stand, their eyes fixed on me.

«B-but… they’re all dead! The president, the prime minister—»
«They were just ordinary people who happened to hold those titles.»
I heard someone sob between hiccups.
«Stay focused. If you lose your composure here, you’ll be left with only a single choice.»
«……»
«And that path will lead to the death of most people here. Sure, a handful might make it, but very few.»
I glanced toward the large man as I spoke, and he responded with a low growl, shooting me a venomous look.
That was his error. One after another, the people nearby shifted away from him, moving closer to me with newfound wariness.
«What the hell is wrong with you all?»
They were finally understanding. They were realizing how the weak endure in a predatory environment where all laws and order have collapsed.

I continued to address them.
«No one needs to die. The strong, the weak—everyone can survive. There’s no reason to be disheartened by the failure of the insects; that was merely the ‘first method’.»
One by one, their expressions shifted. Among them, the one whose face changed most dramatically was the deacon, Kim Cheolyang, who had earlier made the mistake of saying ‘pretty well’.

[The character ‘Kim Cheolyang’ is persuaded by your words.]
[Character ‘Kim Cheolyang’ feels a powerful sense of trust toward you.]

«Is there another method? Besides bugs or people… what else is there that we could possibly kill…»
While everyone was bewildered, I thought, and thought, and thought some more.
If ‘bugs’ were no longer an option, a new solution had to be found.

My first action was to open my phone and check the comments on the ‘first episode’ of Omniscient Reader.
—If bugs work, what about bacteria? Bacteria are alive.
This was a story I hadn’t written.
—Doesn’t stomach acid kill bacteria without you even moving? Doesn’t that mean you could survive without doing anything?
—Ah, that’s ridiculous.
A potential world line, existing only in the realm of possibility, imagined by the collective mind of the readers.
—What’s the principle behind hand sanitizer? It kills germs, right?
—Would using hand sanitizer on your palms save your life?
—Germs are everywhere.
……
—What happens if you kill yourself?

«I am going to tell you the ‘second method.'»

rlaehrwk37: But will that actually work?

[There are 16 minutes remaining.]

«Hand me that lighter.»
«Clothes are fabric, so they’ll burn quickly, right?»
«It doesn’t matter what it is, they’re germs; they’ll stick to anything.»
To carry out the ‘second method,’ people swiftly gathered the supplies I had requested.
«Are you certain this will work?»
I gave a calm nod and started piling up the bundles of old clothing everyone had gathered in the middle of the station.
Our strategy was straightforward. If insects were ineffective, we would kill something else. Something so minuscule it was invisible, yet existed all around us.

Deacon Kim Cheolyang asked, his voice full of doubt.
«But do germs even count? They’re invisible, aren’t they?»
«God is invisible too, isn’t He?»
Kim Cheolyang seemed briefly offended by my words.
Worried I had taken the joke too far, I quickly added more.
«In biology, we learn that bacteria are living organisms. Even if you can’t see them, they are still life.»
Seeing he was still not entirely convinced, I elaborated further.
«Think of it like aliens. There must be life on planets in distant galaxies, but we can’t see them.»
«Brother, aliens aren’t real. Only those fake religions believe in that.»
«It was just an example.»
«I see. So you’re saying they’re alive even though we can’t see them.»
I nodded, though I myself wasn’t completely confident in this plan.
Would killing an invisible creature satisfy the scenario’s conditions?
Truthfully, even after reading the entire novel, there was no definitive answer.

[The constellation ‘Monarch of the Small Fries’ is intrigued by your strategy.]
[A few constellations are curious about what you are attempting to do.]

However, there is a universally acknowledged ‘answer’ for every scenario.
「 Whatever will be the most entertaining and persuasive to the constellations. 」
I muttered under my breath, my gaze lifting toward the ceiling.
«Perhaps it matters less *what* we kill, and more how it makes the one observing it feel.»
«What?»
«Maybe what we’re killing is one of these germs.»
I opened my phone and showed him a list of germs we were likely eliminating and images of what they looked like.
Germs that were always present in the subway station, though we had never truly seen them.
Life forms so small they were normally beneath our notice.
Now, people had to kill them to live.

«I looked it up, and germs are definitely considered living things.»
«We’ll be successful this time, right?»
Still, people’s faces brightened slightly at the prospect of a new chance.
Not everyone, of course.
«You’ve all lost your minds,» the large man grumbled, glowering at me and the group as if he despised the entire situation.
But then he averted his eyes, opened his phone, and began secretly searching for something.
I leaned over slightly to see his search history.
—bacteria life
—insect life
—life
—athlete’s foot
—propecia side effects
As he was intently scrolling through the results, the reader ahjussi next to me whispered.
«Will this work? We won’t be able to identify which specific germs we kill.»
«We’ll do what we can. You don’t see the bodies of people killed by missiles, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t killed.»
If we had an electron microscope, we could confirm the bacteria’s death directly, but we didn’t.
So for now, we had to do whatever was within our power.
If we can’t see the bacteria, we must perform an act that clearly demonstrates our intent to kill them.
That way, the constellations would comprehend what we were trying to achieve.

«Will burning them truly kill the germs? What if they survive?»
«They’ll die. Why do people boil water? To sterilize it.»
«Is that so?»
«Brothers, didn’t you look this up earlier? You should know exactly how to kill them.»
«Ah, deacon. We’re old; we don’t understand these things.»
Kim Cheolyang explained to them, slightly exasperated.
«Ah, germs die because the heat causes their proteins to break down, right?»
I shot a questioning look at Kim Cheolyang, and he gave a silent nod.

A moment later, a small bonfire was crackling at the heart of Geumho Station.
—rlaehrwk99: But by that logic, shouldn’t you survive because the bacteria in your stomach die even if you stay still?
—rlaehrwk24: The stomach is an involuntary muscle, so it’s difficult to claim there was an intention to kill.
—rlaehrwk99: Couldn’t you kill them by forcefully controlling your stomach?
—rlaehrwk24: An involuntary muscle is….
—rlaehrwk37: Yoo Joonghyuk would be able to control his stomach with force.

People tossed the corpses of dead bugs and various other items into the flames.
Kim Cheolyang threw his cell phone case into the fire, and the reader ahjussi tore up receipts from his wallet and added them.
Others threw their shoes into the blaze or pulled out strands of their own hair.
The large man, wary of the others, discreetly removed his socks and tossed them into the fire.
«My sock……»
No one commented on the big guy’s final mutter.

Ten, twenty…
The group stood in silence, watching the bonfire consume the offerings.
With such solemn expressions as they sat around the fire, it felt like we were at a somber vigil.
They were praying to an unseen deity, concentrating on invisible germs.
I did the same.
The invisible bacteria were burning in the sacred flames.
They were burning.
I chose to believe they were burning.
However, picturing the death of unknown germs was as challenging as picturing the faces of anonymous readers.
What became of them?
As the reader ahjussi stood with his hands clasped, murmuring a quiet prayer, I hoped the others were alive and safe somewhere in this world.
Judge Heewon, who sat beside me in the theater, the girl who wondered if Kim Dokja was alive or dead, the reader who knew the secret of 1,863, and the reader who had memorized the number of ■…….
I shut my eyes and pictured them all successfully completing the first scenario.

«Has anyone received a message or something?»
I spoke, and they all looked at one another. Their eyes were nervous, like worshippers awaiting a sign from their god.
«Oh, there’s something in front of me……»
At that very moment, a message from the heavens appeared before everyone.

[Due to excessive modifications to the current scenario, an error has occurred with the system message display and payment compensation.]
[Scenario clear messages will be delivered automatically once the time limit has expired.]

Someone muttered in stunned disbelief.
«What in the world is this……»
There was no need to ask; the message was clear.
No matter what we did from this point forward, we wouldn’t know if the scenario was cleared until ‘the very end’.
I was speechless.
I never anticipated the administration would do something like this.

It was then that a faint *chu-chuchut* sound echoed in my head.
[What on earth are you all thinking?]
Bihyung appeared, his face etched with exhaustion.
[This season is truly bizarre. What is wrong with all of you? If you couldn’t kill insects, now it’s bacteria… Because of your actions, the scenario system has encountered an error. Since the message display is malfunctioning, I can’t preview the results!]
Judging by Bihyung’s frustration, this situation was not something the Bureau had planned for.

Meanwhile, the people were growing agitated.
«What does this mean? We can’t tell if we passed or not.»
«Hey, did we solve our scenario or not?»
«Bacteria are living things, right? Please, answer me!»

Bihyung frowned at the crowd.
[That’s…]
The instant Bihyung started to speak, sparks once again crackled in the air.
[The constellations of the ‘absolute evil’ system are warning the dokkaebi ‘Bihyung’.]
[The constellations of the ‘absolute good’ system are warning the dokkaebi ‘Bihyung’.]
[The constellations observing the scenario do not want the dokkaebi to interfere.]
Something about this felt deeply wrong.

[Hmm… If the constellations insist.]
Bihyung scanned the incarnations with an icy stare.
[Discovering the solution is an integral part of the scenario, so I cannot reveal the answer. However, as a special courtesy, I will inform you of what occurs upon scenario failure.]
The moment I heard that, I checked the timer.

[There are 10 minutes remaining.]
It was time for ‘that’ to arrive.